Electrical connectors – With vitreous-type envelope – Having bayonet-coupling contact
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-23
2001-09-11
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With vitreous-type envelope
Having bayonet-coupling contact
Reexamination Certificate
active
06287148
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector, which is connected electrically to an electrical cable that transmits electrical signals between electrical equipment, more particularly to an electrical connector and a method for mounting the same on an electrical cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional electrical connector is shown to include an insulator body
11
, a front metal housing
12
, and a rear metal housing
13
. The insulator body
11
has a plurality of parallel terminal pins
111
that extend therethrough, and a shoulder
112
. The front metal housing
12
defines a terminal opening
121
therein, and has a rear end that is formed with an outwardly extending flange
122
. The rear metal housing
13
has a front end that is formed with an outwardly extending flange
131
, and a rear end that is formed with an inwardly extending flange
132
. The flanges
122
and
131
abut against each other, and are formed with holes
14
for interconnecting the flanges
122
and
131
by rivets (not shown). In this way, the insulator body
11
is clamped between the front and rear metal housings
12
and
13
. The insulator body
11
has a rear end, which abuts against the inwardly extending flange
132
of the rear metal housing
13
. The terminal pins
111
have front ends, which are exposed within the terminal opening
121
in the front metal housing
12
. The rear metal housing
13
is disposed normally within a metal shield. For example, referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, in a first conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing
13
is fixed within a front opening
151
in a unitary metal protective shield
15
by pressing a front end of the shield
15
to form an inwardly extending annular projection
155
after the rear metal housing
13
has been inserted into the shield
15
. The shield
15
has a rear end opening
153
, through which an electrical cable (not shown) passes for electrical connection with the terminal pins
111
. When the front end of the shield
15
is pressed to form the projection
155
, the shield
15
easily deforms, thereby resulting in the formation of voids between the rear metal housing
13
and the shield
15
. As a result, the rear metal housing
13
cannot be connected firmly to the shield
15
. Furthermore, electromagnetic interference in the first conventional electrical connector is increased.
Referring to
FIGS. 5 and 6
, in a second conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing
13
is fixed between an upper metal housing
16
and a lower metal housing
17
, which are interconnected by virtue of engagement between inwardly pressed portions
161
of the upper metal housing
16
and rectangular grooves
171
in the lower metal housing
17
. An annular welding joint(not shown) is formed between the rear metal housing
13
and the upper metal housing
16
and between the rear metal housing
13
and the lower metal housing
17
for reducing electromagnetic interference in the second conventional electrical connector, thereby resulting in waste of time when the second conventional electrical connector is mounted on an electrical cable (not shown). Furthermore, the insulator body in the rear metal housing
13
melts partially due to high temperatures resulting from the formation of the annular welding joint.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, in a third conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing
13
is fixed between an upper metal housing
21
and a lower metal housing
23
. Each of the upper and lower metal housings
21
,
23
is formed with a hook edge
25
, which is inserted into a respective one of two mounting slots
133
in the rear metal housing
13
. As such, it is time-consuming to mount the third conventional electrical connector on an electrical cable (not shown) . Because voids are created unavoidably among the housings
13
,
21
,
23
, electromagnetic interference in the third conventional electrical connector is also increased.
Referring to
FIG. 8
, in a fourth conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing (not shown) is fixed between an upper metal housing
22
and a lower metal housing
24
, each of which is formed with a holding edge
26
at a front end thereof for holding the front metal housing
12
thereon. The fourth conventional electrical connector suffers from the same drawbacks as the third conventional electrical connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector, which reduces electromagnetic interference.
Another object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector, which has a relatively high mechanical structural strength without pouring insulating plastic material in a metal protective shield.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a method for mounting an electrical connector on an electrical cable, which can be effected easily.
According to this invention, an electrical connector includes an insulator body with a terminal pin unit, a metal housing, and a metal protective shield. The electrical connector is mounted on an electrical cable that transmits signals between electrical equipment by a process, which includes the steps of:
(1) passing the cable through the shield to connect electrically with the terminal pin unit on the insulator body;
(2) placing the insulator body into the shield in such a manner that the terminal pin unit is exposed partially to exterior of the shield;
(3) fastening the housing onto the shield so as to clamp the insulator body between the housing and the shield; and
(4) pressing inwardly and sleeving tightly a portion of the shield on the cable.
Because the insulator body is clamped directly between the housing and the shield, and because the electrical connector is composed of a relatively small number of parts, electromagnetic interference in the electrical connector is reduced.
The shield can have a thickness large enough to increase the mechanical structural strength thereof, without the need for pouring insulating plastic material therein.
Furthermore, because the number of the parts of the electrical connector is reduced, the electrical connector can be mounted easily on the electrical cable.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4786260 (1988-11-01), Spaulding
patent: 5197900 (1993-03-01), Ellis et al.
patent: 5562497 (1996-10-01), Yagi et al.
patent: 2 121 618 A (1983-12-01), None
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Luebke Renee
LandOfFree
Electrical connector and method for mounting the same on an... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electrical connector and method for mounting the same on an..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical connector and method for mounting the same on an... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2539572